Influences

Rust is not a particularly original language, with design elements coming from a wide range of sources. Some of these are listed below (including elements that have since been removed):

• SML, OCaml: algebraic data types, pattern matching, type inference, semicolon statement separation

• C++: references, RAII, smart pointers, move semantics, monomorphization, memory model

• ML Kit, Cyclone: region based memory management

• Haskell (GHC): typeclasses, type families

• Newsqueak, Alef, Limbo: channels, concurrency

• Erlang: message passing, thread failure, linked thread failure, lightweight concurrency

• Swift: optional bindings

• Scheme: hygienic macros

• C#: attributes

• Ruby: closure syntax, block syntax

• NIL, Hermes: typestate

• Unicode Annex #31: identifier and pattern syntax